Ex-sky customers make biggest saving

Customers leaving Sky Broadband for a new provider save the biggest amount in internet bills, paying on average £9.26 a month less.

The figure comes from Ofcom, which calculated the price difference in contracts for customers who switched as a result of receiving a notification that their existing contract would soon end.

Virgin Media customers also ended up paying less (£7.74 a month on average), while both Talktalk and BT customers paid more (£7.81 and £2.45 respectively). The effect on customers leaving EE and Plusnet was “statistically insignificant”.

Ofcom’s research (www. snipca.com/41934) aims to highlight the benefit of providers contacting customers several weeks before their contract is due to expire. The regulator introduced this measure in February 2020 in an attempt to tackle the so-called ‘loyalty penalty’ that sees long-term customers get moved on to worse deals than new customers.

The study also showed that Plusnet saw the biggest percentage-point rise (13 per cent) in customers leaving after being notified, followed by BT, EE and Virgin Media (all 10 per cent).

Sky saw an increase of eight per cent, while Talktalk’s was the smallest at three per cent.

The research follows a report from Ofcom last November which found that 1.3 million customers had secured better deals as a result of being notified about their expiring contract.

It said that two-thirds of customers sent a notification recalled receiving one. Of those, 90 per cent found it helpful, while one fifth said it prompted them into action they wouldn’t have taken otherwise.